No phones, no clothes. Today, we delve into the etiquette of Japanese onsen bathing.⁠ ⁠ First thing's first. What is an 'onsen'? Referring to hot spring baths, the term before anything indicates the presence of baths filled with the geothermally heated water that bubbles up in volcanic Japan. Rotenburo refers to the most spectacular experience within the onsen world: open air hot spring baths. In contrast, sento are indoor public bathhouses supplied with plain old tap water. ⁠ ⁠ Unless you have a penchant for being naked with strangers, or want to experience every facet of Japanese culture, there’s not much point in visiting a sento - nearly every hotel room and apartment in the country is equipped with a bath. But onsen bathing is a rare treat. ⁠ ⁠ Official onsen water must contain at least one of the 19 distinct minerals or chemicals that naturally occur in hot spring water, and must be at least 25C as it comes out of the ground. The colours can be kaleidoscopic. Water rich in iron is red, sulphur turns the water milky, while bicarbonate water is a vibrant blue. ⁠ ⁠ Purported healing properties are just as far ranging, with the waters being said to cure anything from eczema to high blood pressure; though Japan’s snow monkeys simply use the waters to de-stress. ⁠ ⁠ Where to experience these miraculous waters? The easiest place to find them is in an onsen town - an entire community built around hot springs, filled with bathhouses, hotels, ryokans and bubunyoku: smaller baths just for hands or feet. Oku-Aizu in Fukushima, where our author Emma Cooke was travelling, bubbles over with onsen options in the towns of Higashiyama, Ashinomaki, Hayato, Yukinomaki and Kaneyama.⁠ ⁠ See the link in bio for the full article.⁠ ⁠ #travel #travelpics #onsen #wanderlust #adventure⁠